On Narnia
by Blaze Moonlight
Summary: Drabbles on that which is encountered by those who have visited Narnia. Current Chapter: History.
1. On Reactions

He wonders sometimes if it's a habit he ought to have outgrown, he's twenty-six after all (even if he might still look eleven and feel it sometimes too), and he's had plenty of time to break himself of the urge. But he still does it, on the beach when they are first whisked away from the station, in the ruins of Cair Paravel, when they first arrive at Aslan's How. Peter may know that Edmund will always follow where he walks and go when he directs but Edmund hopes to Aslan that Peter has never noticed just quite often Edmund looks to him for direction. He's not entirely sure when it happened, he certainly has always followed Peter's lead to one degree or another – even when he hasn't wanted too – but he is sure he did not always look to his brother with the frequency he did now. He can react on his own but he rarely does so now. When Peter is there he looks to his brother – how is Peter reacting, how would Peter want him to react; and when Peter isn't there he does the same – how _would_ Peter react, how would Peter want him to react?


	2. On Childhood

Lucy Pevensie was nowhere near as young as she often found herself being treated. It seemed to her that her brothers and sister had all forgotten how grown-up she'd become after in Narnia. Susan was trying so hard to fit back into England that she found it more comfortable to just treat her family as she was expected to, and Peter had been so lost in England that he hadn't even gotten used to the idea of being a adult in an child's body himself, let alone adjust to the notion that the same thing had happened to his siblings.

No – it was _Edmund's _actions that infuriated her. They'd understood each other in Narnia and _Edmund _she'd hoped would know better than to treat her like an infant.

When questioned as to why he treated her like she was little he had answered "Because you _are _alittle child."

She'd glowered at him for that, finally surrendering the hope that he would have a reason for his patronising actions.

Then he'd flung an arm around her shoulders – like the old days – and grinned "You're my _little_ sister and always will be. And _children_ get to eat cake and climb trees."


	3. On Enlistment

"I don't suppose anything else interesting happened – outside of your trip to Narnia – while I've been away with the Professor?"

Lucy paused, looking thoughtful. "Well… nothing exciting, but I have learnt that Edmund can't be trusted to help with the groceries."

"Can't be trusted with groceries? Why ever not Lu?"

Lucy hesitated only a moment before answering. "Well… he was a nuisance every time but the worst was the time right before Narnia. First, he argued with the butcher about who knows what, afterwards he nearly got in a fight with the _baker_ over the size of the loaf, and _then_ he, well… of all the silly things…"

Omission, she decided, was a form of lying, and anyway she rather did want Peter to know what Edmund had done that day, after all, he had a right to know and would probably confront Edmund like she wished she had done..

"…he tried to enlist!"

"Pardon?" Peter blinked at her, clearly thinking he'd misheard.

"He slipped away from me and went down to the recruitment hall and he'd gotten to the front of the line and halfway convinced them he was eighteen!"

Peter frowned. "I see… Lucy, could you fetch Edmund?"


	4. On Obedience

Edmund wondered when people had first began to misrepresent the relationship he had with his brother. They looked upon him like he was his brother's assistant or underling. High King over all Kings though Peter was, Edmund played errand boy for nobody (excepting of course Aslan whom he merely hoped held him in higher esteem than to ask such a thing of him). It seemed whenever people spoke to him it was in terms of Peter. They acted like he was only useful on his brother's behalf or in his brother's stead or as a support to his brother. Yet that he could tolerate. Those whom truly aggravated him were those who thought that not only was he subservient to his brother, but it was through Peter's cruelty. Edmund knew which element people's error regarding that more frustrated him, the notion that he would willingly take orders which he did not agree to he could endure, or that anybody would dare to doubt upon Peter's honour he could never.

Because Edmund Pevensie would follow his brother beyond the ends of the world. Willingly. And Edmund Pevensie, traitor once, would freely defy any mortal king at the bidding of his brother.


	5. On Brawling

Though she never gets a chance to say it, Susan worries more for Edmund than Peter when Peter starts fights - because _she_ sees what it seems Peter (his mind stuck firmly in Narnia) and Lucy (trusting a little _too_ far in all of them) cannot. Kingly bearing and adult wit aside, Edmund is only eleven as he follows Peter into every fight with the other teens, and it brings hell to Susan's nerves that for all Edmund has adapted to England he cannot see his foolishness.

Peter was a good fighter and wouldn't be harmed, his skills matching any boy he chooses, even when outnumbered, and while Edmund was a skilful fighter too (formidable in Narnia, a champion in more tournaments than Susan cared to count) he has a child's frame, knowledge that has haunted Susan in every fight.

Lucy, despite disliking the fights, still sees kings fighting and fears little more than bruises.

Peter, though he never admits it, expects Edmund - a soldier - at his side when he is fighting.

Only Susan can see the skinny little boy - with the idiot brother - fighting a lad big enough to snap his arm given the chance.


	6. On Walking

He aches and it is the worst part of being a king. He aches when he walks with the witch from where spring stopped her using her sleigh to the Stone Table. He aches when he walks from the ruins of Cair Paravel to the Aslan's How. He doesn't complain. With the witch he does not complain because she terrifies him and he doesn't dare. Walking to the Stone Table he doesn't complain because Lucy is walking too and he is not about to get shown up by her. With the witch he has to walk far faster than he is used to and he is cold and in pain anyway from her slap and the dwarf's whip. Coming from Cair Paravel he is tired and hungry and his shoulder's ache from rowing and the back of his neck is sunburnt and everybody is so stressed that he is surreptitiously keeping his distance which means when he trips and wrenches his ankle nobody even notices.

Forget the horror of the battle and the boredom of royal functions. Forget the arrogant ambassadors and Susan's (and Lucy's) suitors. The worst part of being a king is the walking.

Thank Aslan for horses.


	7. On Jealousy

Sometimes Susan thinks Peter must be absolutely blind. Or at least absolutely blind to everything except Lucy.

She'd say something but she doesn't suppose it would matter. Her wishes (not to mention Edmund's) will never come in more than second place compared to Lucy's. She feels guilty sometimes because Lucy is her little sister and it isn't right that she is jealous of her and that she resents her for being the baby of the family and the favourite. Lucy is manipulative though – maybe not out of spite but that doesn't change the truth. If her little sister wants something all she has to do is put on a babyish voice and widen her eyes and she will get it from Peter or their parents.

She is glad to be the prettiest in the family (she loves her sister really she does but she just wants _something _for herself) because it means that their grandparents and their neighbours and strangers in the street pay her attention. She does not want the world to revolve around Lucy.

In Narnia, with a thousand suitors at the palace gates, she decides that she would rather make Lucy happy than have that attention anyway.


	8. On Change

Susan nearly laughs when Edmund takes the stuffed dog that Lucy is offering him and hands it off disdainfully to the boy sitting opposite him. She doesn't because it would be cruel (Lucy loves that dog and Peter looks livid) but she can't help but admire her little brother. She can see that he is not acting out of cruelty to Lucy but out of misplaced charity. With one small, seemingly spiteful, gesture from Edmund the little boy they share a compartment with goes from looking on the verge of tears to smiling. Peter misses the consequences of the action (she notices he seems more affected Lucy's loss than Lucy is) but she feels a surge of pride for Edmund. He has never been a friendly or expressively little boy (and school has made that worse) but in moments like this she can see the old Edmund shining through. The little boy who quietly adored his family is still in there and it gives her hope. The war has changed them all and it will keep changing them. In that moment she doesn't feel like War is stealing her younger brother quite so insuppressibly – it will be over by Christmas…


	9. On Caution

For a little boy who hated rules, Edmund spent a lot of time reciting the 'Seven Rules of the Home Front' and the 'Seven Rules for Invasion' and Peter never quite understood how his brother could be so attached to something that all sense said he would hate. Even in Narnia Edmund talks about them (Peter can't help but think that if Edmund had ignored them and believed the 'rumour' Lucy told him he might never have gotten mixed up with the witch) and chooses to live by them. Peter points out that they aren't relevant and Susan reminds Edmund they only apply to war and Lucy tells him that they aren't very fun but Edmund is very much a soldier of the home front (at least to himself) and Peter feels guilty because even though the war spoiled his brother's childhood he can't help but think about how useful that has been in the defence of Narnia.

Edmund is watchful, careful and hesitant to trust and that is why Narnia has never once been invaded on his watch and why every traitor has been caught.

Peter wishes Edmund could just feel safe sometimes, even if it harms Narnia's defence.


	10. On Sheets

Lucy complained about her sheets only on their first night at the professor's. Susan thought that was very good at her. It was not until she got back from Narnia that she noticed something about Lucy's sheets. They were not the same pattern as hers. This would not have been much of a cause for thought had she not been so absolutely certain that Lucy's sheets had matched hers the first night. She still might have dismissed that matter, had it not been for the fact that she also noticed that Lucy's sheets matched Peter's. Several days of careful observations and chatter with the maids confirmed it. Somebody had asked for Lucy's bed to be made up with different sheets from the ones she had slept in on their first night there. And, upon being asked, a confused Peter declared knowing absolutely nothing about his sheets, other than the fact they were definitely the same ones as the first night as he'd noticed that they had a hole in them mended with mismatched thread.

It was not that Edmund had, even before Narnia, done something nice for Lucy that surprised Susan; just that he'd not done it at Peter's expense.


	11. On Excuses

Dressed up in hand down clothes made from blackout fabric and all of them carefully labelled with their names and address 'just in case…' (Edmund adds '…a bomb lands on us' and Susan scolds him), with boxes carried on shoulder straps (made from bootlaces because they aren't rationed) and gasmasks within grabbing distance, the evacuees look a sorry lot. Several of the littler ones are crying (some of the bigger ones are too and Peter hastily averts his eyes) and when they finally settle in a compartment the boy sitting opposite them is complaining loudly about how dreadful it's going to be. Peter is all but ready to hit him for scaring Susan and Lucy when Edmund stands up and walks out. He promised his mother he's look after _all _his younger siblings so he jumps up, dragging their cases and with the girls behind him, and follows Edmund, catching him up, overtaking him, and leading them into a different compartment. The children sat there look no less happy but at least they don't complain. He might be sick to death of his brother and he resents Edmund's childish (-ly patriotic) exit, but he's glad of the excuse to leave.


	12. On Titles

Edmund has always felt that there were imperfections in their titles. They are not wrong, for they do show attributes of themselves, but he does not think that they convey enough. He keeps quiet because the idea of summing any of them up in one word is foolish.

Magnificent Peter, he thinks, should be Peter the Magnificently Obstinate or Peter the Overprotective, which aren't bad traits but not 'magnificent' despite being magnificently like Peter.

Edmund checked the definition of gentle after their coronation - he jokes that Queen Susan the Perfectionist or Susan the Bossy would've been better. She _can_ be gentle when she _chooses_ but, although she dislikes conflict, her title seems to him to neglect that fact that she is a competent and strong-willed Queen who is more than capable of holding her own against two brothers.

He tries to avoid thinking too much about his own title, he knows he will be biased and he knows he will only end up thinking things he won't like.

Valiant, he feels, fails Lucy. It misses out faithful and loyal and loving - after everything, he feels that his younger sister would be better titled Queen Lucy the Bloody Brilliant.


	13. On Reassurance

After a few years of being King of Narnia, Edmund found that he had mostly broken himself of the habit of wishing he were Peter when things got difficult. After all, he'd become close to his brother's equal in war and, it was often said, his brother's better when it came to diplomacy. But, awkwardly comforting Susan as they realised they were as good as trapped in Tashban, he wished he was Peter. Because, in the end, Peter was the oldest. It didn't make him stronger or better or smarter, but when times were tough it was he whom they looked to as their leader. Edmund could have been perfection personified and at that moment Peter would still have been able to do a better job of reassuring Susan than him. Adult or not, he was still Susan's _younger_ brother and no amount of titles, victories or experience could change that. Edmund would get them out of Tashban and woe betide any who tried to interfere with that and Susan didn't doubt him but she also was too grown up, too proud, to lean on him. Edmund would have gladly fought giants if it would've brought Peter to reassure Susan.


	14. On Existances

The sad thing was that as much as Edmund would absolutely have loved to give Eustace the thrashing of a lifetime for his unseemly conduct he could understand exactly why the younger boy was acting the way he was. And not just because Edmund remembered his own less than exemplarily conduct on his first trip to Narnia. For Eustace who had been raised in a world of embassies and republics and vegetarianism, Narnia was a culture shock. The idea of a wooden sailing ship with a mast and oars was almost certainly completely alien to the young boy who had posters displaying the inner workings of huge cruise-liners on his walls, the idea of Kings and Queens who had ultimate authority to a child who could explain (probably better than many adults) the inner workings of and supported a 'parliamentary democracy' was undoubtedly absurd. Eustace who had never even read stories about dragons, could almost be forgiven for being foolish enough to allow himself to be turned into one and could only be commended for breaking Caspian's spare sword fighting a sea monster.

Narnia was more than just another world to Eustace; it was an entirely different sort of existence.


	15. On Bathing

Susan has a strict routine on bathing and does so daily – more if necessary – to maintain the level of cleanliness suited to a Queen.

Peter bathes when he feels the need to: when he is dirty, before formal occasions, when more than a week has passed since his last bathe and when it is specifically requested of him by Susan or a valet.

Lucy bathes rarely. If she is dirty then she will wash the dirt off and she will happily allow herself to become cleaner as part of nature when she swims but she has no patience for the ritualistic cleanliness that Susan observes and often finds herself having to be forced into bathing by a servant or sibling.

Edmund bathes more often than even Susan, but yet seemed to find himself in a constant state of needing to bathe again. He can almost invariably be found to have grime under his nails and grass mud caking his tunic. More than once Edmund has had the gall to turn up at an official function with his hair stiff with sea salt and sand falling from his ears. The time he does not spend bathing he spends getting dirty again.


	16. On Goodbyes

**A/N - Going away to Spain until Saturday so no daily update for the next two days - sorry guys. :)**

There was his brother declaring that he had had little chance of winning his battle, bidding the doctor farewell, requesting his love given to those at home and that 'something specially nice' be said to Trumpkin.

"_So long, old chap."_

There was he, with a sick feeling in his stomach, wordlessly giving his agreement and watching his brother walk to what might well end up being the field of his death.

"_So long, old chap."_

There was Miraz with a predatory look on his face, stalking over to Peter (who suddenly looked ever so small) and preparing to continue their duel.

"_So long, old chap."_

Caspian and the Doctor both watch, Caspian with a childish nervousness borne of admiration of the High King of old and the Doctor with the detached respect of somebody who sympathises but has not yet had the opportunity to grow to care.

"_So long, old chap."_

His fingernails are digging into his palms so roughly they bleed but not as much as he fears his only brother is as Miraz slips in another blow.

"_So long, old chap."_

This is not the first time his brother has been in danger, but…

"_**So long, old chap."**_


	17. On Crashing

**A/N - Well I've apparently got internet in Spain so it seems you get an update today after all!**

Lucy had been holding Peter's hand as she stood on the platform and ignoring the fact that, at eighteen, she was probably too old to be clinging to her brother's hand like a little girl. When the darkness rushes to meet them she is impossibly glad to feel his tight grip protecting her.

The train is coming around the bend too fast and Edmund notices immediately. He doesn't use the word dangerous aloud but that is exactly what comes into his mind right before pain shoots out of his knee and through his neck and ice engulfs him.

Peter hears the undercurrent of warning in Edmund's tone as the train careers around and then off of the tracks. There is only time for a flash of fear to course through him and to give Lucy's hand a reassuring squeeze before everything becomes too much.

Susan cries when she identifies Peter and Lucy's bodies and cries harder when the police officer says the other body with them was beyond identification. That mangled corpse _(Edmund)_, they speculate, probably took the brunt of the train's impact, and Peter (spine shattered) softened the collision with the ground. Lucy's corpse looks like she is sleeping.


	18. On Clothes

It was the clothes that proved to be the biggest problem for the boys, much to Lucy's amusement. Making the transition from comfortable tunics which moved with them and boots designed to keep them dry and protected to the starched shirts that are insisted upon in England and shoes which rubbed and let the rain soak right through them was nightmarish. Susan would fret about her clothes but it was different– all she had to worry about were the varying degrees of stylishness and elegance to what she wore, her only _real_ problem being that her English clothes were not as flattering as her Narnia ones. She could still have ridden a horse or shot with a bow in what she wore in England.

But for Peter and Edmund (both of whom swore they would not become out of practise in the skills they had learnt in Narnia) clothes that they could not run in, could not fight in, could not be kings in, were practically torture.

In a way it is Susan's love of fashion which also helps them. She is a skilled seamstress and within a month she had turned blackout fabric into Narnian clothes.

England will do.


	19. On Fratricide

Miraz the Usurper had murdered his brother, King Caspian IX, for his claim to the throne.

There was _never_ a time when Edmund Pevensie might have done the same.

Edmund knew he had things in common with Miraz. In fact, Peter is the only thing that makes him different.

Caspian X (and Doctor Cornelius) never speak ill of Caspian IX to Edmund it is clear that the late king must have been flawed - more flawed than Peter because Peter, for all of his mistakes, had always held Edmund's loyalty. Even at their relationship's weakest moments, the moments when he wanted to push Peter down and beat him until his skin turned black and yellow and have Peter tell him that _he_ was the best, he would never have done something to bring permanent harm to his brother.

He might have imprisoned or enslaved his brother, he certainly would have worked to put Peter beneath him as a Duke or knight under his kingship, but he did not have what it took to murder him.

Fratricide was an unthinkable horror to him. No level or irritation or resentment would change that because in the end _his_ older brother was _good._


	20. On Frivolity

Lucy grinned.

Peter grinned.

Edmund rolled his eyes.

Susan looked _very_ disapproving.

King Lune was just trying not to laugh. He respected the Narnian royalty far too much to do them the disservice of expressing his mirth in front of the court but he could not deny he was greatly amused by this sudden reminder of the youth of Narnian monarchs. The frivolity suited them well.

"What on earth possessed you? Throwing food about like you were never taught better?" demanded Queen Susan, flicking cake from her hair.

"Oh don't be such a bore Susan," Peter chided in response, "It's only a little fun. Our visitors don't mind, do they?"

Immediately the visitors nodded their agreement, some out of loyalty to Narnia's high King but most in honest amusement.

"We used to do it back in Spare Oom!" Lucy added, "You never minded then!"

"Those were not official functions! Did you _plan_ on doing this?"" Susan asked.

Lucy gave a guilty smile, "We thought it might make everyone less nervous?"

"_Why?"_ growled Edmund, shooting his youngest and oldest siblings a fierce glare, wiping copious amounts of cream from the front of his tunic, "Was I not asked to join in?"


	21. On Guilt

When he had received the letter, the joyful proclamation from Edmund and Lucy that they, along with Eustace, had again visited Narnia, he had not known what to feel. Nostalgia for his country, and perhaps a touch of envy, but mostly joy for them. At least that was what he felt he ought to feel. Instead, he felt guilt. Guilt for the fact that his family had undoubtedly been left to face hardships without him, but guilt for the lack of faith in both his siblings and in Aslan that he felt that they would be endangered without his protection.


	22. On War

When commanding a battle one cannot hold the life of any one soldier above the life of another. This was the reason why Peter so detested his sisters riding to war, for he could not do right by his men or his country by diverting them from the battle to protect his family, but his sisters he could not leave undefended, in case of an (unlikely) occasion where they needed the support of soldiers. He'd become far more hardened towards Ed, shutting his brother out of his mind and commanding his _soldier,_ but still… families and war did not mix.


	23. On Inclusion

Jill sometimes felt like an outsider when the friends of Narnia met. She hadn't shared experiences with any of them apart from Eustace. Miss Plummer and Professor Kirke were grown-ups and would lapse into talking about things she suspected she was too young to understand, and the Pevensies, older that they looked, would also jump into the conversation until she was left feeling like a child. It wasn't a bad thing. When she slipped from their minds, when they slipped back into themselves, she could truly appreciate them as the old heroes of Narnia. Kings and Queens, Lords and Ladies (she was sure that Polly and Diggory were those in all but name), friends and heroes. It made her feel privileged, that despite forgetting signs and studying at the Experiment House and knowing nothing of stars and wars and archery, this group still felt her worthy of inclusion. And when she slipped into the background it wasn't just Eustace who called her back into the group, it was all of them. Narnia had taught Jill bravery and strength, but it was her friends who had preserved it and had shown Jill that the Narnian version of Jill was still _her_.


	24. On Grey

Even Narnia had its grim days. Between glistening winter and the glow of spring, to the embrace of summer and the crisp autumn, there were grey days. Days where Cair Paravel's shine was difficult to pick out and low lying clouds blanketed the kingdom's horizons. On those days Lucy always felt strange. A hint of lethargy yes but also a steady thrum of energy that made her want to shine through the fog. The feelings reassured her, a reminder under her skin of Aslan's grace. The weather pressed down upon them but within every Narnian like her, hope stood firm.


	25. On Flying

Edmund had always wanted to fly. It was just such a novel idea, to glide above the streets and towns, to live a life amongst the clouds. It was a silly dream and one that when the war had broken out had alarmed his family. He knew that they feared his dreams of flying would lead to a career as a fighter pilot and all of the potential for awfulness that came along with that sort of thing. He'd never been tempted but his mother winced at every mention of flying, at all the evidence of his fascination with flight, until he learnt not to show it except for when he was alone.

In Narnia, he had rode gryphons – spun and soared as a king over his country. In England, he forgot about cramped cockpits and noisy engines and instead though of setting his sights upon engineering a way to fly as he had in Narnia, for everybody to share in flight like that. But it wouldn't be the same. England's smog filled sky and battered cities could never hold a candle to the rolling hills and winding streams of Narnia, which were beautiful and pure and perfect and _his._


	26. On Friendship

**A/N - Extra updates today because I'm going away. Normal service should resume by the new year. :)**

Exasperating bloody nuisance though he was, Edmund still favoured Prince Corin of Archenland over all others in the court. He'd known the prince since the boy was three years old and it was difficult to ignore those wide blue eyes and innocent smiles. It was, he imagined, what having a younger brother would feel like – although he was confident that he was never so openly adoring of Peter.

Still, for while the young prince favoured Lucy he also respected her too much as a Queen to see her as a playmate, a dilemma which, to the amusement of many, Corin had never felt with Edmund during his visits to the Cair. It was Edmund he asked to accompany him on 'adventures', to teach him knots and race horses with him, and Edmund he would pull faces at in court and tackle suddenly in orchards. When Corin had become lost in the maze, it was Edmund he sent a sparrow in search of with his request for help. Edmund, who Corin trusted with his pride, and his questions and fears above all others. Not kind Lucy, gentle Susan or heroic Peter, but reticent Edmund.

Edmund who had truly found a friend.


	27. On Marching

They kept up a march. Even the girls. Not just on the field of battle, but on the long journeys home and as they moved through the Cair. Back in England they marched too, around the professor's home and around stations and schools and London. Not the march of an English soldier, not a rigid restriction of pace, but always moving forwards with the same strength and determination , unstoppable and deterred by nothing. They were the Kings and Queens of Narnia, never defeated and never alone.

When the police told her of the fateful accident, Susan faltered and fell.


	28. On Introductions

Although Eustace was eager to share the tales of his newest Narnian experiences with the his cousins, he was not so eager to tell them about Jill. What would they think of the girl who had pushed him off of a cliff, not told him of her encounter with Aslan until it was too late, then mixed up the signs they were meant to be following and, worst of all, _cried_. They might be angry with him too, for he had been charged with keeping Narnia a secret as they did, but hand shared it with Jill unhesitatingly because it had _seemed_ right. Mostly though, he was terrified that they would _like _Jill, and conspire against him to hear and to share stories of his failings. He could just see them having a grand time getting together to laugh at daft old Eustace and his many mistakes in Narnia (and probably England as well.) The Pevensies' sense of humour allowed them to be beastly sometimes and it would be just his luck to accidentally unleash it upon himself. But, he reassured himself, they wouldn't be _mean,_ and if Jill wanted to meet them his cowardice was no excuse to refuse.


	29. On Gossip

"Those Pevensie boys eh?"

"I know, a queerer pair I've never seen."

"There are sisters too, wonder if they're the same."

"I shouldn't be surprised… it's not normal."

"At least they aren't trouble makers, least not in the usual sense."

"Not at all, and thank the heavens for it."

"Still, there certainly is something strange about them. Our Lord only knows what got them to being that way?"

"Oh hush! You talk like it's a bad thing."

"Like a pair of little princes aren't they. All courtesy and mi'lady-ing and graciousness. Never a pair of boys with manners like theirs."


	30. On Dragons

_**MOVIE SPOILER! READ AT OWN DISCRETION**_

"Edmund was carried off by a dragon."

"What?"

"Edmund, he was carried off by a dragon. It was quite thrilling he said."

"A dragon. _Edmund_ was carried off by a _dragon_ and he says it was _quite thrilling_."

"Yes that is what I said. I say, what are you getting so cross about?"

"Lu, you have just informed me that Edmund was _carried off by a dragon_ – what is there _not _ to be cross about."

"Well it's not like he was ever in any real danger."

"No danger from a dragon?"

"Oh, didn't I say, Eustace was the dragon."

"What?"


	31. On Slavers

"Which was when we bumped into the slave traders…"

"Slave traders? Oh how dreadful. However did you escape?"

"Well… you see the thing is… erm… you have to understand that…"

"Understand what? Whatever are you getting at Edmund?"

"We… erm… didn't."

"…Pardon?"

"Didn't escape from the slave traders."

"You _didn't_ escape away from the slave traders."

"Exactly that."

"Edmund…"

"Well obviously we did in the end, but not until after Reep and Lu and I had been auctioned, nobody wanted Eustace, Caspian was really something though! Freed all of the slaves in the market and abolished the trade entirely."

"…"


	32. On Concussion

"Peter, how are you?"

He blinked dazedly, trying to bring his sister's face into focus. "Su... M'alright."

"Are you sure?" Susan sounded worried, "You took a horrid hit out there."

"Sus'n 'm fine," he slurred, trying to reassure his sister that the world wasn't swimming and that he was fit to return to his troops and the battlefield as was his duty, "s'nothing wrong with my 'ead."

Susan, never one to make things too easy, would have attempted to prove otherwise but was cut off by a strained call of "See!" from across the room, "Even Peter says I'm fine." 


	33. On Swaps

"I say Pevensie, I don't suppose you'd consider swapping brothers would you?"

"Pardon?"

"There'd be something in it for you of course, I'm sure there's some prep you'd like to avoid."

"You're offering a swap for Edmund? And in exchange for him you'll do my prep?"

"Some of your prep. And you can have my brother instead, not that you'd want him."

"Why on earth…?"

"Come off it Pevensie. This morning at the station. Fights well for his size doesn't he. Fair play to him, he's got a right lot of nerve, your brother has… he on the rugby team or something? I know he's good at cricket, you should get him to try out. But really, jumping on Rodgers like that? Woah."

"Rodgers? Really?"

"Hmm… yeah, suppose you were a bit caught up with the other two to notice? But all that just proves my point really. I don't know many fellow's who've younger brothers that'd jump into a fight like that, not when the odds were so obviously against you. So, what do you say?"

"…Sorry Harper, I'm not sure Ed would be too pleased with that. And like you said, Ed's not somebody one wants to cross."


	34. On Fatigue

Lucy's eyes were drifting shut and her head felt like it was spinning. She didn't want to ask the others to stop, not when they could be so close, but she was _so _tired. She nearly stumbled on a fallen branch and, to her embarrassment, tears began to well in her eyes. She blinked them back furiously. Being the youngest did _not _mean that she would slow the others down.

"I say Peter," Susan announced suddenly, "Oughtn't we stop. It's all very well and good for you and I to walk like this but what about Ed and Lu? They must be tiring."

Lucy opened her mouth to deny such a thing, scolding herself mentally for allowing Susan to notice her fatigue and prepared to deny any weariness at all.

"Oh thank Aslan for Susan," Edmund cut in, "No offence Pete but I was wondering when one of you two would notice."

"We could be back by daybreak if we keep going."

"I don't mind," Lucy chipped in.

"Well bother both you of you!" Edmund announced. "I can't move another step. This armour is _heavy._"

Peter frowned.

"C'mon Peter, we're _all _tired. Lu's just better about it than Ed."

"Oi!"


	35. On Patience

"What do you propose we do your Majesty?"

"We need to start running for-,"

"We need to get ready for-,"

The two kings stare each other down but it's Caspian who submits. Peter is in charge, this time. It's not over though. Caspian cannot understand the notion of two kings, and Peter seems to have forgotten it. Three kings really, for as Lucy rightly reminds them it is Aslan, King over all Kings, who has led them, physically or spiritually, in all of their greatest victories. Five royals, if you added Lucy and Susan, as Queens, and then Miraz, although a self-styled king, made six. Lucy would support Aslan, and Susan seemed to be allying herself with Caspian, but that still left four different would-be sets of rulers, each with their own ideas as to how best rule Narnia. Four monarchs had only ever worked when those monarchs were co-operative. Narnia was Edmund's country too, and a part of him wanted to give his own answer to Reepicheep's question, but he kept silent, letting Peter hold the floor. Facts and strategy, that was all King Edmund could offer his country right now, those she needed more than any obstinate ruler.


	36. On Sea

"Have you been _crying_ Peter?"

Shame, weakness, fear, things he never wanted his people to see.

"Oh! Is something wrong? Can we help?"

Uncertainty, dependence, indignity, not at all becoming in a king.

"Your Majesty, if you are unable, or in need of assistance, I am sure some of my men could aid you..."

Too much from too many sides. He wanted to help but there were too many, it was too hard, he was too weak.

"Your Majesty, should..."

"Pete, for goodness sake, if you're going to go to the beach, wash the spray from your eyes afterwards."

Support.


	37. On Cooking

"Now we do the…. Potatoes?"

"Doesn't the chicken need to stand first?"

"PETER NOT YET! Don't take it out yet!"

"But you said…"

"No I didn't!"

"Ed! Put the flour down!"

"But we need it for the batter…."

"Yes but…"

"Oh for goodness sakes, I'm not going to spill it, look!"

"Okay, okay. Now hand it here so I can beat it."

"Because clearly Lucy and I can't be trusted with _mixing."_

"Oh shush Edmund. Peter's oldest."

"Peter has no more cooking experience than any of us."

"He doesn't?"

"No. He can roast meat, but that's it."

"Honestly? But I learned more than that _before_ Narnia."

"Worryingly Lu, even _I_ know more than _that_."

"Hang on, if Peter can't cook why is _he _in charge of Susan's birthday dinner?"

"Beats me. He's making an impressive mess though; do you think he _knows _he had Yorkshire pudding batter in his hair?"

"I doubt it. Oh dear, I'd never have suggested we make Susan a special dinner if I'd known. I always figured he's learnt something in Narnia like us."

"Don't worry Lu, I've got it covered."

"Really? _You're_ going to cook?"

"No. But the chip shop down the road is _excellent._"


	38. On Prettiness

_**Slight 'Dawn Treader' Movie Spoilers.**_

"Do you think I'll ever look like Susan?"

Edmund fought back a sigh of frustration. It seemed to him that all of much of what Lucy spoke of lately was connected to looks and prettiness, or else an obvious attempt to get him to tell her that she resembled Susan. Well he wasn't going to say what she wanted. It would be a blatant lie anyway. She _didn't_ grow up looking like Susan. She grew up looking like herself, Queen Lucy the Valiant, and he wondered what it was that made her seem to forget the she'd grown up more than pretty enough in Narnia, and happy as well. It was all he could to do to play at being an oblivious boy and try and turn her attention away from such absurdities. He thought he could see why she preoccupied herself so (he had more than once behaved in a similar way towards Peter and combat skill) but there were some things, he had come to understand, that a person had to learn for his or her self. Instead, he tried to divert her attention to a much less painful topic…

"Hey Lucy, have you seen this picture before?"


	39. On Endings

**Possible slight movie spoilers, but nothing big.**

"Actually Lu, I think it's time we went home."

For a moment, Lucy was shocked and just a little bit upset. This was _Narnia_, the place where they belonged, their true home. She'd always thought Edmund would share her hopes to be able to stay, he loved the country in the same way she did after all. She almost didn't hear his reasoning but the last words slipped in.

"…They need us."

And there it was. The thing that had changed. The thing that Edmund had begun to understand after their first trip to Narnia and gained confidence in after their second but which had been shattered like glass with his words, just minutes before they found their way into Narnia, of, "We're the youngest, we're not as important."

Oh how Narnia had helped him change, just as it had all of them.

And it was just like that she understood. They truly had learned all that they could from Narnia, it was perhaps harder to see in herself but Edmund had, unwittingly, made it clear as glass.

All that they were in Narnia, they could also be, they were also _needed _to be, in England.

And that was enough.


	40. On Brotherhood

Peter felt, despite a shaky start, he had been a good older brother in Narnia. In England again, he doubted. No longer could he be a brother to Susan by letting her take control in court and so showing his respect for her maturity and intelligence. Nor could he act like a brother to Edmund by accepting the younger as his equal in sparring, wars and politics, even with Lucy he struggled, now unable to give her the freedom to dance with fauns or willingly listening to her guidance on all manners of matters of faith.

In England, he learnt that being a brother to Lucy meant swinging her about until she giggled and suppressing his battle-honed instincts so that she could have the privilege of sneaking up and making him jump. Brotherhood was discovering that Edmund preferred football to cricket, and rugby to both, and so striking up games of both with him. It was simply asking the maids if, when they were done reading them, they could lend to Susan copies the fashion magazines she so enjoyed.

In England, Peter realised that his family would always be his family, no matter which world he might find himself in.


	41. On Connection

Susan loves all her siblings equally but she connects with them on three very different levels.

Peter is the closest she has to an equal (although that is not to say she doesn't respect the younger two) because he knows what it is like to be the oldest and to feel responsibility and pressure, both in Narnia and in England. But Peter is still always _the _oldest, the one with authority.

Edmund shares her occasional frustration with being a middle child, her love of intrigue (although he tends more towards politics than society), and like her is more reserved. But Edmund is tactician and a soldier, a champion of Narnia, and for all his efforts can never understand the way she shies from combat, even when it's only for sport.

Lucy is a strange combination of sister and daughter. Susan feels far more responsible for Lucy than most girls in England do for their sisters but she also trusts Lucy with far more than a mother could put upon her child.

But in the end that she loves them equally matters far more than finding things in common with them. And she knows that they will always feel the same.


	42. On Tokens

He's not bitter about Peter giving Caspian Rhindon. It's Peter's to give and it makes _sense_. After all, Peter was given Rhindon upon becoming king; so Caspian ought to take it next. Edmund doesn't _need_ a token – he's been king for years already, he can't assume a mantle he's already got.

On the Island, the one they debated between calling Goldwater or Deathwater, or Dragon Island, he's not sure what came over him. He has never been jealous of Peter (or at least, he had rarely been jealous since arriving in Narnia) and he certainly has no wish to usurp Caspian. Usurping Caspian doesn't even make _sense _when they're both Kings of Narnia already. The sword is irrelevant.

But when he's facing the sea serpent he's glad that it's Rhindon in his hand not one of the series of temporary and borrowed swords he's worked with since arriving on the Dawn Treader, it's familiar and he knows that Rhindon is reliable.

And because it's been difficult and lonely on the Dawn Treader without a brother (Eustace is improving and Lucy is brilliant and Caspian _tries_ but it's just not the same) and Rhindon is a reminder that he's never alone.


	43. On Sickness

**A/N - Slightly longer drabbles than usual, subject matter courtesy of my current condition, but on a high note - 100 REVIEWS! This is just... too awesome for words. I shall have to write something happy to commemorate. :D**

It had started, most alarmingly, with Lucy being violently sick in the night. Within hours Susan complained of feeling horribly unwell and Peter spent several days wandering around in a daze, with the completion of turned milk, before the royal physician ordered him to bed. The illness was quickly announced to be spreading throughout the population of Narnia and, within days the country was brought to its knees.

Panic was spreading as fast as the illness as rumours began to spread of Calormene and Giantish invasions being launched while only one occupant of the four thrones was not bedridden.

Thankfully by the third week, for there were those who suspected that King Edmund was ready to snap under the combined concerns of his sibling's health and his Kingdom's fears, Susan, always staunchly resilient to sicknesses, recovered. Peter improved quickly afterwards, whether naturally or through a need to match his sister in capability is often speculated upon but irrelevant, but while the oldest two slowly returned to their duties, Lucy was more worrying. For the longest time, while her eldest siblings and fellow Narnians recovered and declared the worst of the disease over, the youngest queen was still pale and (although she tried not to be) glum. But still, the doctors worked and, with great celebration, the disease was eradicated and the valiant Queen cured.

A week later, when the doctors of Narnia sourced the disease to a shipment from Galma and declared that the sickness was over, Edmund started sneezing.


	44. On Misjudgement

**_A/N - Not the happy piece I was promising, although that's coming. Real life and writing aren't getting on so well at the moment. This one is perhaps a bit awkward, I struggled with wording what I wanted to convey, but I figured I'd share it anyway as it's been a little while since I came up with anything._**

The dark haired, hard-eyed boy who delivered the challenge enters the field at the side of Miraz's challenger. Miraz watches with fascinated amusement as this _King _Edmund, plays _squire_ for his brother, carrying his sword and tending his wounds, this icy youth, who had so skilfully manoeuvred Miraz himself into agreeing to this fight, taking on the duties better suited to the sons of insignificant lordlings? Had their roles been reversed, he would have run King Peter through many years before for such arrogance. He wonders, as his blade flashes, if the boy might not be glad for him to win this battle. When he had won, slaughtered Peter and Caspian and crushed the rebels, he might offer the boy a place in his courts. He would spare the sisters, give the youth the promotion he doubtless wished for, send him to voyage to Narnia's isles and ensure that their fair country received the tribute it was long overdue.. He is a good king and, after the execution of the traitor Caspian and usurper Peter, elevating their victims will be the perfect reminder to the people of his charity. The boy will not refuse his offer.

Miraz understands younger brothers.


	45. On Absence

Corin is no fool. He knows that his age and impetuous temperament make it seem otherwise, but he is not oblivious to the pitying looks in his direction when the topic of brotherhood – so dearly valued in Archenland – arises. He pries and he pesters and uses every other honest method he knows, but whenever he is within earshot the topic is closed down with all haste. Even the Narnian royals, whom value sister-and-brotherhood above all else, are reluctant to broach the topic in his presence. He wonders how it is he can miss so sorely that which he never had.


	46. On History

It would be easy to pretend that the Kings and Queens of Narnia never fought among themselves. Certainly court historians were curiously eager to depict them as paragons of graciousness and wisdom. Their tendency to gloss over lost battles, political missteps and even Edmund's early cooperation with the white witch meant their reluctance to acknowledge petty bickering and pointless sniping was no surprise. They wanted future generations to see their royalty as wondrous but perhaps the greatest failing of Narnian history is that it seemed to forget that, even when squabbling, their kings and queens were, at heart, a family. 


	47. On Weapons

Peter and Edmund have their swords, Susan her bow and Lucy the dagger given to her by Father Christmas as well as the bow the centaurs have taught her to use, a more practical weapon for use in battle.

However it is not these material gifts, valuable as they are, that have been their greatest weapons in leading Narnia into her golden age.

Narnia is founded not on conflict or any of its kings and Queens admittedly formidable skills in combat, but instead on Peter's bravery, Edmund's honesty, Susan's grace, Lucy's kindness and the four's belief in a fairer future.


End file.
